Sparks Fly
by sharksfan17
Summary: Carter Donovan's life has been slowly falling from her grasp for years, her mother over works her, and is slowly losing her mind and her best friend is leaving town. Just when she thinks its the worst a male appears that captures her interest. Tyler/OC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sadly I don't own anything though :(

For Carter Donovan, today started out like every previous day in the summer, she would get out of her big comfy bed and walk into her bathroom to take a shower. Once she got out, she would walk over to her wooden dresser, which resided on the left side of her bedroom. Today, she decided to wear light colored jeans and a navy blue tank top. Walking over to her desk next to her dresser, she grabbed her maroon colored apron. Tying it around her waist she walked back into her bathroom to dry her light brown wavy hair. Once it was dry, she put it up into a neat pony tail to begin the day. Putting on black flat shoes and grabbing her red purse, she headed down the hallway of her home and into the garage. In her purse, she looked for her car keys. She clicked the unlock button and got into her red solara and headed for the dinner that her mother owned.

It wasn't that long of a drive to her mother's diner, it was in walking distance if she wanted to. It was right down the street, Carter and her mother lived on one end, the dinner was on the other end of the street, on the corner of Main Street and Hopyard. It was never that hard to find. Main Street was the only road that went through the town of Summerville. Once she arrived at her mother's diner, She parked in the back and rushed in to see what she could do to help her mother, after all, it was usually the two of them working there. Carter arrived at the diner just in enough time to help her mother to grab a plate from the pick up counter. Following her mother to the table, she finished serving the four sitting down. "You're late." Her mother, Emily said to her. Carter sighed, she wasn't that late, only five minutes or so.

"Sorry mom." She replied to her. Walking back over to the other side of the counter, she picked up the coffee pot and began walking around the small, 8 tabled diner, with 6 stools at the bar. Asking and Serving those who wanted more coffee with their breakfast or lunch. She would take orders to those people who walked in and sat down. Carter never got tired of working the long hours of the diner life. She had friends outside of her diner life, however she didn't get to see them often, but she loved it when she got to see them. Carter loved her life, and she didn't want anything to change about it. Her and her mother had a plan, Emily would open up early in the morning, and Carter would close at night.

Through out the whole day, people would come in and out into the diner, some were people that her and her mother saw daily, others were people they would see on occasion, then there was the out of town people. Carter would always take care of them, they were easy to spot out, because Ipswich was so small that everyone knew everyone. It was the perfect small ocean side town that absolutely no one knew about, the perfect place to live. From the diner you could see the harbor, it wasn't the prettiest view in town but it was one that she liked. She absolutely loved it when the fog was in, that was her favorite day to walk to the diner. There was something about the fog that she absolutely loved.

Through out the entire day the diner had been slow, people usually came in a lot for breakfast and dinner. So far, there hadn't been many people that she had seen for breakfast. It was usually packed when she arrived in the morning, however there was a few tables open when she walked in. Few people were there for lunch, then dinner came. Carter was running around like a mad person for a few minutes. But, she had everything under control, even after her mother left. She had been working at the dinner since she was able too. Now, she was turning 18 and she didn't want to leave her little hometown.

Carter was heading into her senior year at Ipswich High School and she was excited to graduate, just not move away from her beloved town. School was always easy for her, her mother always told her that she always got perfect grades, straight A's, even in her advanced classes. She could easily graduate now if she wanted too, she had enough credits. There were some moments when she thought that she could easily move away, however, she would simply look out of the dinner window and fall in love all over again with the town. There were no Universities close by, since she lived almost in the middle of nowhere near the ocean. Her mom was supposed to take her on a college tour, however her mother hasn't been feeling that well recently, and Carter had no idea what to do, other than do the best that she could.

Heading back around towards the coffee machine, Carter picked up the coffee and began to slowly walk around the dinner, making sure that everyone was happy and content with their dinners and coffee's. Soon the dinner crowd had left, and she was left to clean the diner. She would gather all of the plates and mugs and pass them on to the kitchen crew. Looking at her watch, she realized that she only had a half-hour left till she closed up the diner. Asking them for a wet towel, she began to wipe off the tables. As usual, the last customer was her friend, Tom. He sat down on the stool and leaned on it, his elbows on the white counter. "Pie." Was all he said. Carter looked at him. "Please?" He asked. She sighed and told the kitchen crew to please get a pie for her friend.

Everyone at school thought that they were siblings, just because the two hung out and looked similar. The only difference, was that Tom's hair, was a little lighter and he had brown eyes instead of her green ones. Once the pie came to the counter, she served it to her friend. "How has your day been?" She asked him, heading towards the coffee machine to grab the coffee pot and a coffee cup. She set the cup down and filled it with coffee. She leaned against the counter. Tom quickly ate the pie that she had just set down in front of him. It took her a few seconds to realize that he had eaten the entire pie in almost one bite. "Was your day that bad?"

"You have no idea, you try working with your psychotic father every single day. Today he was more off his rocker than he usually is." He said taking a sip of his coffee. Carter grabbed his empty pie plate and set it on the counter. Tom worked in an office building with his father, he spent the entire summer as his fathers assistant, his right hand man. Almost every night, he would come in here pissed off about something that his father had done earlier on that day. Tom's father wanted him to take over the company soon, his father wasn't that old, however he was rich enough to be happy. He wanted his son to start off sooner than he did, so that he could retire young like he wanted too and be set for life. Carter knew what the company was at one point, but she forgot constantly. She didn't like bringing it up when they were hanging out cause it would just piss Tom off.

"What happened?" She asked him, quickly refilling his coffee cup. She looked around the diner to make sure that no one else was in there, before grabbing herself a cup and filling with coffee. Coffee was her weakness, she absolutely loved coffee. She usually had several cups a day, but sometimes the day went by too fast, so she would have some with Tom when he came in at night.

"He is making me go on business trips with him now, and he says that I should drop out of school and just work with him all of the time. Next week i'm leaving to go to New York with him." Carter just stared at him. She didn't know what she would do if Tom wasn't at school, she probably would graduate early, do anything to not deal with her other classmates. It wasn't that she hated her classmates, it was the fact that no one would talk to her or even care. She quickly learned at her school, she needed to care for herself and no one else, well, other than Tom. She just sighed taking a sip of her coffee.

"What are you going to do?" She asked him. He shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to answer her question. He took a sip of his coffee and she waited to hear his answer. He was hesitant to respond, she knew that he was waiting to figure things out by himself, she just hoped that he wouldn't have no choice to leave school.

"I don't want to work now, I want to finish school. But I have to go on the trip with him." He said to her, finishing up his coffee. Carter walked over to the coffee machine and picked up a coffee pot silently asking him if he wanted more. "Just a little." She nodded her head and poured him half a cup and refilled hers.

"How long is the trip?"

"A month." He responded to her question. His brown eyes were staring at the black coffee in front of him. He didn't take a sip since she refilled his cup. Tom was probably realizing that he had to go across the entire country for this trip, and that his father would force him to go onto the plane to go to New York. He looked up at his friend and smiled. As much as he hated to admit it, he had always expected more of their friendship, he had hoped that they would be madly in love right now, yet, here they were just friends. Something that Tom had never wanted them to end up had always joked about them being in a relationship, but Carter had said that she didn't want to risk their friendship just because they wanted to date and that failed. He stood up from the counter and reached into his pocket. Grabbing his brown leather wallet, he unfolded it and place a ten dollar bill on the counter. Carter just stared at him.

"You know you don't have to do that, my mother doesn't even charge you." She said to him. He shook his head, refusing to let her know that he was paying for his pie and his coffee, wether she liked it or not.

"Nope. I'm paying for it." He said with a little half smile. "Night Carter." He said to her before he left the dinner. She watched him leave, then she shook her head and cleaned up his coffee, and drank the rest of hers. She handed the cups to the kitchen crew. Kyle, the head chef was staring at her. He had always been a father figure towards her, since she didn't have one. He would always give her advice wether she wanted it or not. Most of the time she didn't, but she always ended up realizing that he was right in so many ways.

"What?" She asked him, grabbing a towel to clean off the little pie bits that were left on the counter.

"Carter, you know he likes you right?" She nodded her head very carefully, unsure of where this conversation was heading. She did like Tom, she just didn't want to risk their friendship. She would hate herself if something happened about that. "Then why don't you do something about it?" Kyle was right, as much as she hated to admit it. Shaking her head, she tried to ignore the conversation that had just happened. Carter wanted to do something about it, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him anything. Glancing down at her watch, she noticed the time and smiled, it was 10pm, closing time. She walked over to the door and flipped the open sign to the closed side and turned around.

"Do you guys need any help with anything else?" She asked them and they all shook their heads. Nodding hers, she walked around the diner placing the chairs upside down on top of the tables so that she could sweep up. Walking into the back corner, she grabbed the broom and began to sweep up the floor. Once she had finished doing that, she turned towards the door to find it swinging shut. She groaned and headed towards the front. She actually wanted to get home and call Tom, tell him her new realization.

"Hello?" Said a male voice, she looked to see who it was. It wasn't anyone that she recognized, she headed behind the counter that the male was now leaning against.

"Hi, how can I help you?" She asked him, just incase he wanted directions or something.

"Are you still serving food?" He asked looking up at her. As soon as she saw him, all thoughts of Tom disappeared from her mind. The first thing that she noticed about the male was his blue eyes. They were his deep blue eyes, they were captivating. Carter had to stop herself from staring at him and looking like a stalker. His brown hair hung in his eyes, it almost looked like he had been through a hell of a lot that day.

"I am so sorry, but we just closed. I can ask the chef's to make you something if you want. I would offer, but frankly, I can't cook." She explained and he let out a little laugh.

"No, it's fine. It's my fault, I didn't look at the hours on the door." He said, his hands went into the pockets of his dark jeans.

"How about some coffee, its the least I can do." She said to him. She always hated turning away customers, it was something that she felt bad about, her mother, however didn't. That is when Kyle suggested that Carter took the evening shift.

"That sounds great." He told her. She walked over to the machine and grabbed a coffee pot and a coffee cup and pored the male a cup of coffee. Looking back into the kitchen, she had seen that most of the kitchen crew had gone. Carter wasn't nervous about just having it be the male and her in the diner, she was used to it by now. She didn't want to be hovering over the male, so she looked around for something else to do, but she was all cleaned up. Looking back at the male, she noticed that he was staring at the coffee in front of him.

"Is there something wrong?" She couldn't help but ask the male. He looked up at her, almost in shock that she wanted to talk to him about something. Carter wouldn't blame him if he wouldn't talk to her. He was a stranger to her, and probably to this town. He shook his head.

"No, I should probably get going." He told her. He stood up from the bar stool and grabbed his wallet from his back pocket. Carter shook her head and put her hands out, refusing to take his money.

"It's on the house." She said. He ignored what she had just said and placed a twenty dollar bill on the counter. He nodded his head.

"Then that's a tip." Without another word he left the diner. Carter looked at the door where the male had just been. Walking over to it, she locked the door. Her mother would be pissed if she let anyone else come into the diner after hours. Turning around, she saw Kyle looking over the counter at what the male had just left her.

"He likes you." Kyle said and Carter glared at him. She would have thrown something at him if she had something to throw. He had just finished telling her to go after Tom, then the male came in and he changed his mind. "Goodnight Carter see you tomorrow." He said, then he left the diner. Carter picked up the twenty dollar bill then placed it into her pocket before leaving the diner herself. For some odd reason, she couldn't stop thinking about the male that had just come into the diner. She walked out of the back door of the diner and towards her car. Getting into her car she made her way back to her small white painted home.

The home was a perfect size for her and her mother, the kitchen was small, something that they never used. If they wanted something, Kyle would usually make it for them. The living room was another thing that they rarely used. It contained a dark brown couch, wooden table and two light brown chairs. Carter didn't think that they had sat in the chairs since they got them. She walked down the short hallway to the bedroom on the end, that was hers. The room next to hers was her mothers, and on the other side was the bathroom that they both shared. Carter opened her bedroom door and walked into the room. Taking off her apron, she placed it on the back of her chair, she walked to her dresser and changed into short pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.

Carter searched around her bed for her phone. It was always so hard to find on her black comforter, her phone was small and black and an ancient flip phone. Her mother finally got her to add texting to their cell phone plan. She was so thankful for that. Finally, she found her phone and opened it, finding a text message from Tom, it simply said, 'help me.' Often, she got these texts through out her day. Usually she wouldn't respond to them until she got home at night, and that was only if he didn't come over. She ignored the text and placed her phone on the counter next to her bed.

Lying awake in her bed, she couldn't help but think about what to do. She hated being confused, it always seemed to piss her off. She knew Tom, very well, and she absolutely loved their friendship. However, she really didn't want to ruin their friendship, she wasn't quite sure if she had any attraction to him other than being his friend. The thing that was currently racing through her mind, was the male that had come in. There was something about him, that had her attached to him. Carter shook her head, it was probably nothing but a little crush, she would probably never see him again, and she needed to get over that. Turning over in her bed to face the wall, she closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

Around half way through the following day, Carter found herself running around the diner once more. Her mother had went to take a quick break and she hadn't been back since. She was fuming about her mother at the moment. It was shocking the amount of people that were in there for lunch, Carter believed that it was because of a bus that had came into town around an hour ago. The people were very nice about it, they had realized that she was the only one working at the moment. Usually people would demand to be served, but no one in the diner did so. Kyle had offered to help her, but the kitchen crew was just as busy as she was up front. Of course, just as everyone left the diner her mother showed up. "Seriously Mom?" Carter asked her as Emily walked behind the counter.

"What?" Her mother asked as if she didn't know what had just happened, that was probably very true. Carter looked down at the ground and sighed, she wanted to try and explain what had happened to her mother but that would just end up in a fight. That was happening more and more often now and Carter hated it. She didn't want to argue with her mother, that made her want to leave this town, and she didn't want to do that at all. She shook her head and smiled.

"Mom, why don't you go home and relax, you don't look too well." Carter lied. She hated it that their situation had come to this. Her mother and her used to be so close, it shocked Carter that things ended up like this. She just wanted things to be how they used to. Emily and her always have so close, they would joke around while at the diner, but something in the past few months changed Emily became more distant, Carter did her best to ignore what was going on.

"Your right. I think I will." Emily replied nodding her head. Carter and Emily looked very similar, Tom always said that Carter was a mini version of her mother. Some days, Carter could see the resemblance, others she couldn't. But, these past few months, she couldn't, Emily's hair seemed to be darker, and she swore that her mothers eyes went from green to hazel. Carter watched her mother leave the diner without a single word. Looking back towards the kitchen, she saw Kyle shrug his shoulders. She rolled her eyes and sighed, walking around the counter, she grabbed the coffee cup to make the rounds, not wanting to think about her and her mother's dying relationship.

It wasn't long before the dinner rush came in, along with someone that she didn't expect to see until later on in the evening, Tom. Carter was walking around the diner, making sure that everyone was happy. He had been following her around, trying to talk to her. "I need to talk to you." He told her as she was filling up the coffee cups of an older couple. She nodded her head, and walked back behind the counter to let him talk. She set down the coffee pot and he spoke. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning. Do you think you could get your mom to cover for you tonight? and then we could hang out?" He asked her, his eyes were begging her to say yes. As much as she wanted to she couldn't.

"Tom, I really want to, but I can't. I don't want to get into a fight with my mother, we almost did earlier. She is acting stranger than usual, and I just don't want to start anything more." Carter told him, she had never seen him more disappointed in her life. It was as if she gave him a puppy and took it away from him. "I promise, right after work, we can go see a movie."

"Damn it, Carter," He said to her simply. She just looked up at him and he shook his head. "Call me when you get off." He left the diner. Rolling her eyes and sighing, she grabbed the plates for the older couple and walked over to their table and set down the plates. She noticed that the couple was holding hands on the table. She smiled.

"You know dear, you should go after him. I did, your not young forever." The woman said. Carter smiled at her and nodded her head. She walked away from the table to pick up the next order of food from the counter. She made her rounds once more around the place. It was dark outside by the time that things had calmed down. Like the previous night, she began to make her way around the diner, wiping off the tables. She heard the bell to the door ring, she looked up and saw the male from last night. He walked over to the counter and sat down on the stool. She finished wiping off her last counter before making her way to the counter. Grabbing a menu from the shelf underneath, she placed it in front of the male.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Carter asked.

"Coffee please." He said smiling slightly at her. She turned around and grabbed the coffee cup and the coffee pot, and pouted him a cup of coffee. "How has your day been?" He asked her. Nodding her head, she smiled

"I'm good, how about you?" She asked. Finishing pouring his cup of coffee, she placed the pot back on the warmer. Walking back over to the male she leaned slightly against the counter, not wanting to intrude on him. She watched as he looked down at the menu in front of him.

"I'm doing okay." He responded to her, then he glanced down to the menu once more. She turned around wanting to give him time to think about what to order. Looking at the kitchen, she saw Kyle looking at her. Carter walked into the kitchen to see what he had called her in for. She walked back behind the swinging door and placed her hands on her hips.

"What do you want for dinner?" Kyle asked her. She looked at him in disbelief, he knew that she wasn't aloud to eat while working. That was something that had always bothered him, however, she had gotten used not eating. It was her mothers rules. Sure, she would eat a few things here and there, but she would normally eat really late at night. "You know she wont mind." He told her. His green eyes were begging her to eat something. He was always complaining that she was too skinny.

Carter sighed, knowing that this battle wasn't worth fighting. "I'll have the usual." She said to him, when she ate, she always ate a patty melt on sourdough and no onions. It was even on the menu as a joke at one point, Carter and Kyle thought that it was hysterical, Emily, however, didn't think it was funny at all, so he had to take it off. She smiled and walked back into the diner. Walking over to the counter she asked, "What would you like to eat?"

"Can I have the French Dip?" He asked and she nodded her head. She walked over to the window and told Kyle that someone would like a french dip. "I'm on time tonight." He said to her. She looked at him, puzzled for a few seconds until she realized that he had come in after hours last night. Carter couldn't help but smile at him

Nodding her head, she responded. "Yes you did." He nodded his head at her. "I'm Carter." She introduced herself after a short period of awkward silence. That was something that she hated, it made her feel horrible. He smiled at her slightly.

"I'm Tyler." He told her. She smiled back at him. There was something about him that had her drawn to him, it was an indescribable feeling. She had no idea what it was, just a few seconds ago she didn't feel like this at all. Once again, it was his blue eyes that had her speechless. His hair was similar to yesterday, in the fact that it was slightly covering his eyes, other than that it was neater than it was.

"Carter." She heard her name being called, she jumped and turned around. It was Kyle, once he saw that he had startled her, he couldn't help but laugh. She smiled at him and looked at the kitchen counter window. "Your dinner is also ready." Nodding her head, she grabbed Tyler's dinner and placed it on the counter in front of him.

"Thank you." He said to her, she nodded and smiled slightly before beginning to head back into the kitchen. "Why don't you eat out here?" He asked her. She froze and turned around to face him, shrugging her shoulders, she made a quick excuse without telling him that her mother would kill her.

"It would be unprofessional." She stated. Half of that was true, Carter was shocked that she had come up with that answer that quickly. He shook his head.

"Come on, if anyone wants to be served, or has any questions, I'll just tell them it was my idea." He persuaded. She was finding it hard to say no to him. Looking back over towards Kyle, she saw that he had her plate in his hand. Taking it from him, she placed her plate next to where Tyler was sitting. She grabbed a coffee cup and poured herself a cup of coffee. She would need it if she were to hang out with Tom later. She would have to, since he was leaving tomorrow. He would be pissed at her. She walked around the counter to sit next to Tyler, who was staring at her plate. "What is that?" He pointed towards her plate.

"Well, It's a patty melt, on sourdough bread and no onions." She told him feeling absolutely stupid about what she was eating. Carter watched his face break out into laughter.

"So, its sourdough bread, cheese and hamburger meet?" He asked and she nodded her head, wondering where he was heading with this. "I'm not sure why that isn't on the menu. Its a brilliant idea." He told her, she felt her face heat up, she did her best to try and hide it, but she could tell that it wasn't working. Carter swore that she could hear Kyle laugh in the kitchen.

"Well it was, but my mother thought it was a stupid idea, so we had to take it off the menu." She explained, taking a bite of her dinner.

"I think that its a great idea," She heard him mumble before he took a bite of his food. Smiling slightly she also took another bite. "Do you and your mom not get along?"

"Sometimes, we used to get along great, but then something happened and she has just been in a weird mood for the past few months." She had said more than she had wanted too, She wasn't planning on telling him anything about her life. He was a stranger, a very handsome stranger, but she didn't know him at all. He nodded his head at what she was telling him.

"My mom gets like that sometimes, I think it started right after my father died." He told her, that was something that he didn't want to tell her. Usually, Tyler was the quiet one, especially with his friends, however, this girl was doing something to him, he didn't know what it was. He was supposed to be at Nicky's with his friends right now. He had just finished up his second to last semester at Boston University, and his friends had been bugging him to come back home and visit, which he finally did. He was on his way to Nicky's when he found himself in the parking lot of the Diner. He wasn't mad that he ended up here, the food was a hell of a lot better.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said to him, she could relate to him in the fact that she had no father. Her mother never ever talked about him. Kyle was the closest thing that she had, and she wasn't complaining about that. The two sat and ate in silence for a few moments. Carter looked up at the clock on the wall, finally it was closing time. Finishing one half of her dinner, she became full and got up to take her plate into the kitchen. "Do you wanna try some?" She asked Tyler, it was perfectly good food, and she didn't want it to go to waste. He nodded his head. She placed the plate next to the one that he was eating off of.

"Thanks." He said to her. Nodding her head, she began walking around the diner and putting the chairs on top of the tables to do a final sweep of the place. Once she was done, she walked back over to Tyler, who had eaten his food and hers also. Carter couldn't help but smile. "Now that needs to be on the menu." He said to her. She grabbed the plates and coffee cups then, put them on the counter window to the kitchen. Kyle picked them up and took them into the kitchen. Tyler stood up from his place and reached into his back pocket.

"No, its on the house." She said to him, but he ignored what she had told him and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. "Tyler, please. Its fine."

"No its not. I ate food, I should pay for it." He argued, Carter shook her head. "Carter." He sighed, and she couldn't help smile as he said her name. She absolutely love the way that he said it. "Just this once." He said and she smiled. Turning around he walked towards the door. "Night Carter, I'll see you around." He said to her, she smiled slightly back at him.

"Night Tyler" She replied and watched him walk out of the diner. She finished up cleaning the diner before she left the place to hurry home and change into something. Walking into her bedroom, she grabbed her phone and sent Tom a text that said that she had just gotten off work. She went into her bathroom to take a quick shower, before getting dressed. She put on a white skirt that had red flowers on it, and a red tank top, with red heels. It wasn't often that she got to dress up in something other than jeans, but when she did, she dressed up as casually as she could. Walking back into her room, she grabbed her phone and looked at the text from Tom. He would be picking her up in a few minutes. She walked back into her bathroom, to quickly dry her hair. Hopefully she wouldn't wake up her mother. Once she was done, she grabbed her purse and headed outside where Tom was waiting for her, hopefully. Thankfully the weather at night wasn't freezing like it was in winter. He was outside waiting for her in his black BMW, that was probably a bribe from his father. Getting into the car, she placed on her seatbelt and looked at him. "Hey Tom."

"Finally a person with brains." He said and she could help but laugh at him.

"Where are heading to tonight." She asked him as he started the journey down the street, and to the mystery destination.

"Were going to Nicky's." He said to her. She nodded, "You can get something to eat there, i'm sure your starving." She laughed at his statement, which for her, was a lie at the moment. The two talked a little about this and that while they were on their way to Nicky's. Once they got into the bar, Carter followed Tom to the bar. "What do you want to eat?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. I'm not really hungry. Kyle had me eat something." She told him. He nodded his head and ordered himself a burger. Something didn't feel right for Carter, she couldn't place her finger on it. She never felt like this before and she didn't know how to react. But something was telling her to go home and go to sleep.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked her. She nodded her head in response, hiding whatever feeling she had, from him. She waited with him while he waited for his food.

"Hey, Nicky, Can I have a Jack and Coke?" Carter heard a familiar voice ask. Turning around, she also saw a very familiar face. It was Tyler, he looked the same as he did when she had last seen him. He had on a dark pair of jeans and a black shirt. He shook his head slightly to make sure that he was seeing the right thing. "Hey Carter." He said.

"Hey Tyler." She responded back, not knowing how to act. All of a sudden she felt an arm around her shoulder, she jumped at the motion, wondering who could have done that. Looking to her side, she saw Tom standing right next to her. Immediately, she took his arm off of her shoulder, "What are you doing?" She asked him. Unsure of what he was trying to do.

Tyler just watched the two, he was actually jealous of what the male had done. He felt protective of Carter, and he didn't like this male that was here, especially with her. "Here you go Tyler." The bartender had said to him. Tyler responded with a thanks, then payed for his drink.

"Tyler, this is my friend Tom." She introduced the two, Tyler stuck his hand out, but Tom didn't budge. Tyler dropped his hand. and took a sip of the drink that he had in his hands. Carter looked at him, her eyes were begging him to do something.

"Come on Carter lets go. I'm not feeling well." Carter looked from Tyler to Tom. She knew that he was lying, he was pissed at her, and she was pissed at him.

"You just ordered yourself dinner."

"I know, now lets go." She was now becoming pissed at him. He knew damn well that people who cooked food worked hard at that, and she knew that it wouldn't be appreciated by the people working here. Tom grabbed her hand and she pulled it away from him. She had no idea why he was acting like this, it was very unusual for him.

"I'll find my own way home." She told him simply. He leaned in towards her.

"Fine." He said before leaving the building, that was when she could smell the alcohol on his breath. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, calming herself down, doing everything she could not to cry. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw the comforting face that was Tyler.

"Why don't you let me take you home, I'll make sure the food gets eaten I promise." She nodded her head, once the food was ready, Tyler took, and paid for the food to someone in the bar, which he also gave his drink to. In silence the two walked to his truck, a black dodge ram. Carter had no idea about what to do or how to think. She told Tyler that her home was on the same street as the diner. He nodded and looked at her.

"Everything will be fine." He told her, she gave him a half smile as he arrived in front of her house.

"Thanks Tyler." With that, she left his truck and went into her home. After locking up the house, she went into her bedroom, changed into her pajamas then went to sleep.

Please Review! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do so! I wanna know if I should continue the story!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sadly I don't own anything though :(

Chapter Two.

Carter jolted awake her face was hot, and she was almost gasping for breath. She had no idea what was going on. Not remembering her dream, she had no idea how she ended up like this. She always hated it when she couldn't remember her dreams from the previous night. It made her so mad that she couldn't do anything about it. Running her fingers through her hair, she looked at her phone that was next to her bed. The time was close to 3am, and there was no missed calls or texts from Tom. She was deciding to be pissed or tired at the moment. Falling back onto her bed, she closed her eyes and fell back asleep.

The next time that Carter woke up, it was time for her to head to work. She tiredly walked to her bathroom to take a shower, she felt exhausted. Unfortunately, the shower did nothing to help her wake up. Sighing, she walked over to her dresser and put on a light pair of ripped jeans and a hot pink t-shirt. Placing on her apron, and her flat shoes, she walked into the kitchen to hopefully get some coffee before driving down the street. Sadly, there was no coffee that was made in the pot. Walking back into her room to grab her purse and keys, She couldn't help but think about how much she messed up last night.

She should have talked to Tyler more, he had given her a ride home after Tom had abandoned her, and she just sat there, she didn't move. Her mind was rushing with these thoughts. The more she thought about it the more pissed off at herself she got. The least she could have done was invite him in for coffee or something, but no, she didn't think that much and politely said thanks for the ride. Getting into her car, she felt like banging her head repeatedly just thinking about what she could have done. She drove the short distance to the diner. Getting out of her car, she slammed the door shut and walked into the building.

As soon as she walked in the door, Kyle knew that she was pissed off about something. He knew that he couldn't say anything to her in front of her mother. He would have to wait until her mother walked to the other side of the diner. Carter set her things down beneath the counter the grabbed the coffee pot and began making the rounds. She didn't feel like being social or anything, she just wanted to go home, be anywhere but here at the moment. There was a sudden thought in her mind that she could see Tyler, hopefully she would. That would make her feel a lot better.

Passing by her mother, she didn't say a word to her, and Carter didn't say a word to her mother. She always hated those days when she didn't want to be at work at all, she felt like she was being forced to fake everything about her, and she hated being fake. Her mother was waiting on the table next to her as she filled up the coffee pots. She skipped the table that was next to her and walked back to the main counter. "Whats wrong?" Kyle had asked her as soon as she put down the coffee pot. She sighed.

"Tom has lost it." She told him simply. She watched as he opened his mouth to speak, however he kept silent because Emily showed up. Carter was at the point where she didn't want her mother to know anything about her life. Who knows what she would do about it, that is why she figured that it would be best if her mother didn't know anything about her life. She knew it was horrible, but Kyle knew everything. It was close enough to a parental figure. Her mother looked at the two suspiciously before taking off her apron.

"I am going home. I assume that you'll be out late again. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She said. Carter looked from her mother then to Kyle. Placing her apron under the counter she left. Glancing up at the clock, she read the time. It was only 10am. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, hating this day even more than she had five seconds ago.

"What was that about?" Kyle asked her. She shrugged her shoulders. Heading off to wait on another table. She took the order of the regular couple, even though, she had their order memorized, they came into the diner on a daily basis. Once she took their order, she handed it to Kyle.

"I have no idea, maybe she wants to know more about my life. So last night, Tom took me to Nicky's and I saw Tyler there. Then he got all pissed off and left so Tyler had to take me home. It was weird." Carter explained to him, he handed her food to serve over the counter. She walked out to the tables and served them food, with a smile on her face, trying to pretend like nothing in the world was wrong. The longer she faked a smile, the more pissed off she became, and the more she wanted to close the diner herself right now. Clearly her mother had other priorities.

Slowly, the day passed on. It was the longest day that Carter had ever worked. She was beginning to be exhausted, and not wanting to deal with anyone at all anymore today. She was leaning against the counter when the bell of the door went off. Turning around, she saw Tyler standing in the doorway, he slowly walked over to the counter and sat down. She couldn't help but smile a little bit. "What are you doing later?" He asked Carter. She shrugged her shoulders. "Want to go to a party with me? I promise it will be a lot better than last night." He said with a smile.

"I'd love to." She responded with a smile also. "I should be out of here, hopefully by ten." She sighed. Wanting her long day to be over with.

"Actually, she is just finishing up now, I'll close up. You need a night off." Kyle said coming out from the kitchen. She looked up at Kyle and smiled. With a simple thanks, she walked with Tyler out of the diner and towards the parking lot. He followed her over to his car.

"How about you follow me, and I'll change real quickly and then we can go?" She asked him, looking at him as if she was waiting for him to approve her plan. He nodded his head and turned away to get into his truck. She got into her car and drove down the street to her home. Parking her car in the driveway, she got out and headed into her room. She ran to her room and she changed into a pair of dark jeans and a grey sweatshirt that hung off of one shoulder. Placing on eggplant colored high heels, she put her phone, license, keys and some money in a dark purple clutch and was out of the door.

Walking over to Tyler's car, she got inside and put on her seatbelt. "Ready to go?" He asked her. Nodding her head, he smiled and drove down the street towards his friends house. "It was a busy day?" He asked her, trying to get rid of the silence that had come over the car. Carter let out a little laugh.

"You have no idea, My mother left the diner as soon as I arrived there, Leaving me to do everything." She told him. Glancing over at him, she watched him nod his head.

"Next time let me know, I'd be happy to help you." He said, she smiled at him. She watched as he traveled to the Ipswich hills, its where most of the people who went to Spencer Academy. Glancing out of the windows, she realized that she barely knew anything about the male that was in the car with her. "What are you thinking about over there." He said with a slight laugh. She couldn't help but laugh also.

Shrugging her shoulders she responded. "I was just thinking about how I barely know anything about you. As odd as that sounds." He nodded his head.

"Well, I attend Boston University, I am 21, almost 22. I graduated from Spencer Academy a few years ago and my friends practically force me to come back here in the summer to visit them. I wanted the hell out of this town, and I did, but not far enough." Carter couldn't help but laugh at his last sentence. He looked over at her curiously. "What are you laughing at?"

"I don't think I could ever leave this town." Tyler let out a little laugh also. He wanted to get away from here, it had been months since he last used and it felt good. Reid had always been pushing him to use constantly, but ever since he left, he felt fine. He had wanted to go to Georgia for school, his cousins lived down there and he absolutely loved it down there. His mother, was born there and hated every second, she hated it when he visited his cousins. She wouldn't allow him to apply anywhere but a Massachusetts school.

"Have you ever been out of this town?" Tyler simply asked. Wondering what her answer would be. Once people arrived in Ipswich, very few left. The people who lived here barely knew about the beauty of other states. Tyler just wanted people to know about the other places in the country. He watched as she shook her head. "Well maybe one day, I'll take you to my favorite place in the world. I bet you will want to move there."

"Deal then." Carter responded to him with a smile. She found it hard to believe that there could be this other place that was more beautiful than Ipswich, she was willing to give it a try though. Tyler looked at her and smiled before turning into a gated home. Carter couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She had no idea who these people were, yet she was attending a party here. She just had to use her charm and hopefully things will be good from there. He parked his truck next to several other vehicles. She got out of the passenger side of the car and smoothed out her skirt. Tyler stood towards the back of his truck, waiting for her to walk by him. She did, and the two walked towards the party.

She could faintly hear music coming from inside the huge victorian style home, Carter was in awe of the home. She had only seen ones this size on Tv but never in person, until now. Once they approached the home Tyler looked at her. "So my friend is a bit of a partier, so he may be drunk by the time you get in the door, I'm sorry about that in advance." Carter looked at him and smiled. It was really sweet that he was telling her this now and not after it happened.

"Thanks Tyler." She replied as he opened the door for her. She walked inside expecting to see hundreds of people and the place looking like hell. That is not what she saw when she walked inside.

Inside was a beautiful staircase that lead to the second floor. On either side of the stare case was different rooms, one side looked like the dining room, the other looked like a family room. The loud music was coming from the second floor. Tyler shut the door behind him, then he took her hand and led her up the red carpeted staircase. The second floor was bedroom after bedroom, the two finally arrived at the last bedroom in the hallway, the one on the end. He opened up the door to reveal a huge room, there was a huge surround system in the corner, and a huge flat screen tv. The couches were black leather. There were people hanging out in the room, some were dancing, others were talking. "Well its about damn time you showed up." Said a male voice. Carter looked towards Tyler, a blonde male stood next to him. The blonde had a hand on Tyler's shoulder.

"Sorry, I was picking up someone." She saw Tyler smile a little bit as he told his friend this. "Reid, this is Carter, Carter this is my best friend Reid." Carter smiled at the new male. She watched as his eyes looked over every inch of her body. Her face went red.

"The pleasure is all mine." Reid said with a smile on his face. It was as if he wanted her to be his. "Well come in, have a seat, dance, drink up and have a damn good time that we all won't remember in the morning." With that, Reid stumbled off to the next group of people. Tyler shook his head at his friend. He just hoped that one day Reid wouldn't treat life as a game. Tyler grabbed Carter's hand once more and the two walked over to one of the leather couches. Two males sat on either end of the couch while two females sat in the middle.

"Hey guys." Tyler said to the other two males. They both shook his hand and the girls smiled and waved. Carter looked at them curiously. "This is Carter, Carter this is Caleb, Sarah, Kate and Pogue."Carter waved her hand at the people who sat on the couch. She was unsure of what to do, the only person that she knew around here was Tyler, and he looked like he was miserable.

"Are you okay?" She simply asked him, hoping that he was okay. That his face didn't have the word miserable written on his face. It would make her feel better, at the moment, she came to the conclusion that Tyler wanted her go come here just to see what his friends are like, since he had seen Tom.

Tyler faked a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna go get a drink, want something?" He asked her and she nodded her head. The two walked to the other side of the room where there was a bar. He stood behind the counter and flashed her a smile. "It seems that we traded places." Carter couldn't help but laugh, it was true. She was always working when he came in, since no one was aloud behind the counter, it was always her. "What will it be Miss. Carter." Looking at him, she thought about what she wanted to drink.

"Jack and coke." She said to him with a smile. She leaned against the counter, Tyler glanced at her with a questionable look on his face. "What?" She asked him.

"Are you even old enough to drink?" He asked her, leaning against the counter again. He raised an eyebrow, and she just gave him a charming smile. He shook his head, and couldn't help but smile. She was charming, he gave her that, he couldn't not give her a drink now. He grabbed the bottle of jack and a can of coke and made her drink for her.

Once he handed it to her she smiled."Thanks." She said to him, he began to make himself the same drink that Carter had. He finished making his drink, then walked over to her. She followed him as he headed towards where his friends sat on the couch. Tyler sat down on the floor next to the couch, Carter sat down next to him.

"I told you a little about me. What about yourself." Tyler said to him taking a sip of his drink. Carter smiled slightly and looked down at her drink. She turned towards him, and crossed her legs, setting her drink in her lap, she spoke.

"Well, I am 17, almost 18, I attend Ipswich High School. I could graduate in the fall if I wanted to." She shrugged her shoulders. Tyler looked at her and smiled, She just glanced down at her drink, almost as if she was afraid to look back up at him. Carter didn't know why, but she felt like he would make fun of her for being smart, one of the brightest in her class. When she did look back up at him, she was comforted by his blue eyes.

"I know that feeling." He said to her, "I was the same way, I just wouldn't let them know that." He smiled slightly at her. The male who was sitting on the edge closest to where Tyler and Carter leaned down next to them and spoke.

"I heard that." Caleb spoke. Tyler shook his head and turned his attention towards his friend.

"Tyler, stop hogging your friend! Its not very often that there is another girl in the group!"The blonde girl, Sarah said to him. She got up and walked towards Carter and held out her hand. She held out her hand and Sarah pulled her up. Carter grabbed her drink from the floor and walked off with Sarah.

"Where did you and Tyler meet? I want to know everything. You two looks so cute together." She said to Carter in one breath. Her friend Kate, was standing right next to her. Carter couldn't help but smile, she shook her head and took a sip of the drink that was in her hands.

"He walked into my mom's diner a few days ago, it just started from there." She told the girls simply. They looked at each other and smiled. Carter felt out of what the two were thinking. She shook her head, and began to walk towards Tyler. However, someone got in her way, it was the blonde male, Reid.

"Are you having fun?" He asked her. Carter smiled and told him that she was having a great time. She, however, in her mind wasn't sure if she actually was having fun. She loved hanging out with Tyler, but something was off. It was as if a wave crashed over her, in the last few minutes. "Wanna have some more?" He asked taking a step closer to her. As soon as he finished speaking her phone began to vibrate. She pushed passed the male and stepped out of the giant room to see who was calling her. It was the last person she wanted to hear from at the moment. Her mother.

"Hi mom." She said into the phone after she opened up the old flip phone. She closed her eyes and leaned up against the beige colored walls of the hallway.

"Carter Elizabeth Donovan. You need to get home right this moment." Her mother screamed at her. Carter held the phone away from her ear, she could still hear her mother lecturing her. "You better not be with that boy that picked you up here."

"Fine mom, ill be home soon." She said to her mother. Her voice was filled with sorrow. Carter didn't want to leave, even though, it wasn't the best party that she had ever been to, she was enjoying her time here. Sighing, she walked back into the room, Tyler and Reid were standing near the bar. Carter set her drink down and turned to Tyler. "My mom wants me home." She explained rolling her eyes. Tyler nodded, and set down his drink at the bar. He said goodbye to his friend and walked out of the door, Carter followed. "I'm really sorry." she said not wanting him to be mad at her.

"It's fine, the party was boring anyways, I should be the one apologizing." He said to her with a smile. The couple walked down the stairs and out towards his truck. Carter couldn't help but feel sadness for making him leave his friends party early. Even though he had told her that it was fine. "Did you have a good time?"

Carter got into the truck before responding to his question. "Yeah, it was fun. I don't get to attend those very often." She explained. "My mother's health is going downhill and I almost live at the diner." She said. Tyler backed up his truck and began to drive her back to her home. The entire ride was silent, Carter didn't know what else to say to him but 'sorry.' Once he pulled up to her home she spoke again, "Thanks so much for the ride home. I'm still sorry your missing out on the party." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"It's no problem." He responded. Tyler was thankful that her mother did call, he couldn't stand another moment of Reid's drunken ranting. He had no idea how he did it in high school. Carter got out of the truck and walked inside. He made sure that she safely got inside before he drove away.

Once inside, Carter was greeted by her mother. "Sit down, now." She said in a voice that was chilling to Carter. She didn't speak, she just did what her mother told her to do. It was the first time in a long time that she had sat down on the couches, if not the first. Carter was too afraid to speak to her mother. She had never seen her mother act like this. She wasn't sure if it was because she was drinking, or something else. Emily sat down across from her daughter and spoke. "Everything I have told you in life, was a lie."

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